"Half" in the Hawaiian language. Originally used to describe someone who was half-Hawaiian but came to more prominently refer to someone who's half-Asian or Pacific Islander. Increasingly used to describe people who are of any racial mix, but this is still generally misunderstood as referring to a half-Asian; also, increasingly used to describe people who are of a partial Asian ancestry, e.g
three quarters non-Asian, one
quarter Asian. However, the term is fairly recent, and many hapas would not necessarily know that you are referring to them if you were to describe them as hapa.
Some hapas have tried to claim that the use of the term is equivilant to nigga in the black community, i.e. that one hapa can refer to another as hapa and it is good, but a non-hapa cannot, and it would be insulting. Most other hapas think these people are retards and are just happy to have something that isn't as patronizing as
halfie or
halvsie and easier to say than half-Chinese/Japanese/Korean/whatever.
"If
Magnus Karlsson and
Yuki Fujiwara have a kid together, it'll be hapa."
"My dad is Chinese and my mom is black, and so I'm hapa."
"Did you know that Karen is a hapa? I had no idea, but I guess I can see it now."